Brewer's Blackbird?

[slidinghills]

SW Alberta (west of Pincher Creek), 6:45am yesterday.

[Jefferson Shank]

Yes, I think so... Did you hear it? It's a little hard to rule out Rusty Blackbird here.

[Benjamin]

3 hours ago, Jefferson Shank said:

Yes, I think so... Did you hear it? It's a little hard to rule out Rusty Blackbird here.

While technically true, in general Rusty Blackbird is much rarer the further west you go, while Brewer's Blackbird becomes far more abundant. Just because of that, I would be pretty confident calling this Brewer's, as it's really the only expected and common species.

Habitat is also indicative of the species- I see Brewer's Blackbird in my region frequently in large, open farmland areas, feeding in large flocks in farm lots or perched on wires or fences. On the contrary, Rusty Blackbirds, in my experience, most often forage on the ground in more wooded and swampy areas. As a personal anecdote, I don't know that I've ever seen a Rusty Blackbird perched up on a telephone pole or fencepost, as this bird appears to be (not to say that it can't happen). And it's obviously not possible to tell from the photos exactly what type of environment this bird is in, but it appears to be a more agricultural/farmland area as opposed to a forested/swampy area.

[slidinghills]

Thanks for the replies. The bird was observed on a fencepost in a ranch/calving pasture with 5 other blackbirds.